The Enlightenment, also known as The Age of Reason, occurred from 1685 to 1815, and was a time period when European views on politics, religion, philosophy and science, changed drastically.(1) The Enlightenment philosophers preached reason over religion. They believed that reason and logic should be applied to everything, and moved away from the concept of religion being the answer to everything. In the 18th century, multiple Enlightenment philosophers united to produce the first French Encyclopedia, hoping to change the ordinary way of thinking. It was banned in 1759, however, it was the first time in Europe that such a collection of knowledge was gathered and made available to the general public. People were starting to accept the idea of
…show more content…
Montesquieu devoted himself to the study of political liberty and developed the “checks and balances”. He believed power should be a check to power, preventing absolute monarchs from having full control over cities. His ideas went on to become the bases of the U.S constitution. Rousseau published “The Social Contract” in 1762, explaining his philosophy of direct democracy where people give up some of their rights for the common good. His ideas later inspired leaders from the French Revolution. César Beccaria strongly criticized abuse of justice, capital punishment, and torture. He preached quick, fair trials, and that punishment should be based on the degree of crime committed. His ideas influenced criminal law reformers in Europe and North America. Mary Wollstonecraft strongly believed in education equality, and that women should be able to get the same education and jobs as men. Emilie du Chatelet translated Newton’s work from Latin, a language very few people could read at the time, to French. As people could read and understand science, interest developed, thus spreading the idea of reasoning rapidly through Europe. …show more content…
Chapter 16 of Cesar Beccaria’s book “Crimes and Punishments” (1764) is devoted to the issue of torture. He argues that punishment for a crime should be swift, so that the concept of crime leading to punishment is etched into peoples mind. He goes onto say “If guilty, he should only suffer the punishment ordained by the laws, and torture becomes useless, as his confession is unnecessary. If he be not guilty, you torture the innocent; for, in the eye of the law, every man is innocent, whose crime has not been proved.”(8) Hundreds of years later several countries have signed the “Convention Against Torture” in agreement that torture will not be practiced in their country. As the world had progressed, torture has significantly reduced, however, the concept of torture being wrong and unjust originated several hundred years ago during the
Montesquieu devoted himself to the study of political liberty and developed the “checks and balances”. He believed power should be a check to power, preventing absolute monarchs from having full control over cities. His ideas went on to become the bases of the U.S constitution. Rousseau published “The Social Contract” in 1762, explaining his philosophy of direct democracy where people give up some of their rights for the common good. His ideas later inspired leaders from the French Revolution. César Beccaria strongly criticized abuse of justice, capital punishment, and torture. He preached quick, fair trials, and that punishment should be based on the degree of crime committed. His ideas influenced criminal law reformers in Europe and North America. Mary Wollstonecraft strongly believed in education equality, and that women should be able to get the same education and jobs as men. Emilie du Chatelet translated Newton’s work from Latin, a language very few people could read at the time, to French. As people could read and understand science, interest developed, thus spreading the idea of reasoning rapidly through Europe. …show more content…
Chapter 16 of Cesar Beccaria’s book “Crimes and Punishments” (1764) is devoted to the issue of torture. He argues that punishment for a crime should be swift, so that the concept of crime leading to punishment is etched into peoples mind. He goes onto say “If guilty, he should only suffer the punishment ordained by the laws, and torture becomes useless, as his confession is unnecessary. If he be not guilty, you torture the innocent; for, in the eye of the law, every man is innocent, whose crime has not been proved.”(8) Hundreds of years later several countries have signed the “Convention Against Torture” in agreement that torture will not be practiced in their country. As the world had progressed, torture has significantly reduced, however, the concept of torture being wrong and unjust originated several hundred years ago during the